I am fresh out of a toxic relationship with my ex-boyfriend. He was physically, verbally, and emotionally abusive to me, and the effects have been traumatizing. Thankfully, I have a somewhat supportive mother I was able to turn to in my time of need. She allowed me to come live with her when I moved out of the apartment I shared with my ex.
My mother is all about her business and her money, so I wasn’t at all surprised when she told me she would be charging me to stay with her. However, I was surprised by the terms she had come up with for me. She told me she wanted $600 a month and also said I would need to buy my groceries to feed myself. I felt that $600 was a bit exorbitant, but I was between a rock and a hard place with nowhere else to go, so I accepted.
I quickly began to notice that my space on the couch was being compromised by my younger siblings. Often, they would monopolize the couch late at night, playing video games and watching television when I was ready to go to bed. They didn’t treat the couch at all like it was my bed, but I still had to pay my mother $600. Additionally, my food items were dwindling down and disappearing. Again, my siblings weren’t shy about eating my food and not replacing it whatsoever.
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I have gone to my mother on several occasions to inform her of what’s going on with my siblings, but she brushes it off and basically feels like I should deal with it and accept that it comes with the territory. Even though I have dietary restrictions and they’re eating my healthy foods, she says, ‘That’s just what brothers and sisters do.’
I have confided in two of my very best friends about what is happening, and both of them have said I should be paying my mother far less for the couch and food that is being demolished as soon as it’s purchased.
Will I seem ungrateful if I confront my mother with a proposition that I only pay $300 a month and buy my groceries?
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